The National Parliament of Solomon Islands will again play host to the 52nd Regional Presiding Officers and Clerks (POC) Conference at its premises starting Monday next week. This will be the second time for the Solomon Islands Parliament to host this prestigious annual event, the first being the 43rd POCC way back in July 2012.
This year’s Conference will begin with a welcome reception hosted by His Excellency Governor General David Vunagi at the Government House and the conference proper will be at the National Parliament House from Monday the 3rd to Wednesday the 5th July. More than 50 Presiding Officers/Speakers and Clerks from 18 Parliaments in the Pacific region including, the Australian State Parliaments, the New Zealand Parliament and participants from the Solomon Islands National Parliament.
During the three day conference participants will have discussions and do presentations on the following areas: Jurisdiction reports from each country; Representation, Resilience and Innovation; Parliamentary Privilege and Procedures; Strengthening Parliament, Security and Precinct; and other Parliamentary matters.
The participating countries include the following: Parliament of Victoria, Parliament of Western Australia, Parliament of Tasmania, Parliament of South Australia, Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Queensland, Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, New Zealand House of Representatives, New South Wales Parliament, Australian Federal Parliament, Parliament of Papua New Guinea, Parliament of Nauru, Vanuatu Parliament, Bougainville House of Representatives, Parliament of Tuvalu, Parliament of Tonga, Parliament of Kiribati and Congress of New Caledonia.
Apart from the main conference, Twinned Parliament meetings between Australian and Pacific Parliaments who have twinning arrangements will also take place as well as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Australia Region and Pacific Region Management Committee Meeting.
Pacific Parliaments that have twinning arrangements with Australia are.
- Nauru, Tuvalu and Victoria
- Samoa and Tasmania
- New South Wales, Bougainville and Solomon Islands
- Queensland, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu
- Australian Capital Territory and Kiribati
- Cook Islands and Western Australia
- Niue and Northern territory
- South Australia and Tonga
Twinning programs by Australian and Pacific parliaments include exchanges of Information and training activities between the Parliaments to promote and enhance Parliaments’ institutional roles and other opportunities for dialogue as they arise.